In-Flight Weather / GPS

In article ,
"Dan Luke" wrote:
Same here (well, only 0.8 decades). But new technology has made trying
to find a way across 300 miles of blooming CBs using eyeballs and
Fligh****ch more challenging--and dangerous-- than necessary. It's
really no different than your use of GPS to stay out of R- areas: it's
just a better way than we used to have.

Dan,

I take it you're running this on a Tablet. Have you had any altitude
problems with the Tablet? Do you have an opinion on the practicality of
the PDA solutions for weather?


Thanks,
JKG

"Jonathan Goodish" wrote:
Dan,

I take it you're running this on a Tablet.

No, but that's what I'm going to change to. See this same thread in r.a.ifr.

Denny's point about the fuss and muss of portable NEXRAD weather displays is
valid, but it's still early days for the technology. I'm using a Sony
notebook with the Xbrite screen and a USB GPS. This setup works great but is
clunky to handle and has too many cables. I'm going to convert the whole
thing to Bluetooth and use a Fujitsu tablet PC for an MMI--totally wireless.

Do you have an opinion on the practicality of
the PDA solutions for weather?

Yes: they're too small to see or use easily. Perhaps I'm just spoiled by the
much larger, higher resolution screen of my Sony notebook.
--
Dan
C-172RG at BFM

Howdy,
I have the AnywhereWX setup, if you have any specific questions or
are in the CO area I'll show it to you. I've been extremely happy with it.
Just a couple comments on other comments...

It's not too small, anything bigger on the yoke would block too much,
and I can't imagine using it as much as I do being anywhere but on the
yoke - as in, easily within reach.

The wires, etc. I have the bluetooth gps, so only wire is if I want it
powered/charged. I use the satphone, bluetooth is an option for it but
I found it to be flakey and don't use that. I have a split wire coming out
of the yoke mount - one going to the satphone, one going to the cigarette
lighter. It's tucked away and not an issue. I use the ram mount for the
satphone on the left front window. I want to see the display on the
phone to make sure it's charging, it has some battery life, and what kind
of signal I'm getting. Also, and this is important as I pay by the minute,
is that if the Ipaq drops the signal or connection to the phone, the phone
may not actually hang-up, which can be costly if you're not paying
attention.

Satphone vs XM. XM wasn't an option when I got my setup, or was just
getting started. I liked the emergency backup of a satphone anyway, and
the satphone is a 2-way device, some things you can do with it that the
XM RECEIVER can't do, like airmail, which is something I use on
occasion. I think there are some other differences as well, some that may
matter to you, some that may not.

Cost. I wanted something bigger originally, but those sure are a lot more
money. In my house there is a little justification necessary on these kind
of expenses, and rightly so. I do use the PDA outside of aviation, so
that's
good. I already had a decent laptop, so a tablet would be a hard sell.

Approach plates. Those just looked too small on the PDA, where the
GPS/WX, to me anyway, was more than acceptable. The cost was
another issue. Bogging down the PDA with more stuff was another.
Trying to fly day/vfr most of the time, even though the airplane and I
are both IFR rated, was another factor. Just didnt seem worth it for
the amount of IFR I do.

The PDA is Windows, so sometimes it becomes a "hobby" compared
to a standalone GPS like a 195. I almost got a 195 years back, got
an Airmap300 instead. Neither hold a candle to AnywhereMap/PDA
option, except for that "hobby" thing I guess.

Useability/Usefulness. We just did a 5,000 mile trip last summer and I
used the hell out of this system. I called FSS once, and that was just to
verify what my PDA was showing me and I filed an IFR flight plan with
them. I had family tracking this huge trip, so the Airmail feature was used
often to send them a link to a map showing where we currently were. The
METARS helped in making changes to the trip. The Nexrad and lightning
of course was great, and I got to see that yellow is something worth
avoiding.
For this trip, and I'm sure future big ones, the weather display added
tons to the trip. Granted, missions are different, but I can't imagine
doing
that trip and making it successful without that weather system. We had
specific goals in mind and weren't going to be in those areas again any
time soon.

If weather really is the big deal for you, then any of the mentioned
products
should already be in your possession. If you're not sure of the accuracy,
don't worry, it's pretty darn accurate. When AnywhereWX's satellite
imagery showed clouds coming up (with tops information), it was right.
Where it showed lightning, there was lightning. The METARs matched
the AWOS's. The Nexrad was dead on. Now only if my TrafficScope
was that reliable....but that's another thread.

Chris

"SeeAndAvoid" wrote:
If you're not sure of the accuracy,
don't worry, it's pretty darn accurate. When AnywhereWX's satellite
imagery showed clouds coming up (with tops information), it was right.
Where it showed lightning, there was lightning. The METARs matched
the AWOS's. The Nexrad was dead on.

Gotta love it. It's cool to fly through light, scattered showers and see the
the rain shafts appear *exactly* where they're depicted on the screen. A
real confidence-builder for those times when truly nasty stuff is about.

Down here, t'storms are an almost daily pain in the butt 5 months out of the
year. They used to make any long trip iffy for me. Now, with NEXRAD, I know
where they are, where they've been, where they're going, whether they're
growing or fading, and where the "outs" are every minute I'm in the air.
Life is good.
--
Dan
C-172RG at BFM

And it makes you look pretty smart, or clairvoyant, to your non-pilot
passengers too! I wish I did something on that trip last summer: taking
comparison pictures of the pda and the actual weather. It was mid-June,
mid-day, from Athens to Orlando, there was a solid line of thunderstorms
from, well, Athens to Orlando, and beyond. We wanted to land in
Augusta coming down from D.C., but the combination of a huge
G5 Summit TFR and the weather and offshore special use airspace made
that impossible (AWX shows TFR's and updates them too, btw).
If we'd made Augusta, and we couldve without the TFR's, we'd been
east of the line and been good all the way to Orlando, but we couldnt
so we got into Athens quick and the storm moved in and flooded parts
of the city.

After it moved off we headed south but kept getting pushed west because
of not only what we were seeing with our eyes, but confirming with the
Nexrad/lightning strikes. So we were getting stuck on the west side
of this wall and I could hear everyone on freq struggling with it. But
the nexrad showed a gap around Ocala, sure enough I could see through
it and went for it, and made it through. A Delta jet wasnt so lucky
and tried to just punch through the wall and got hit by lightning. After
I reported that gap (atc saw it but wasn't sure if it really was a gap)
some others went for it as well. Without the pda, I'm not sure I wouldve
gone past South Carolina. That wouldve been a hard sell to the family
as we were Disneyworld bound. I did get some pics of the building storms
which we were able to outclimb for a while, then I just got tired of
climbing.
Thing is, someday I'll get an IFR GPS, not so sure I'd ditch this setup I
have now though. It does things that panel mounts 10x its price cant/wont.
And it's one hell of a backup in case of total electrical failure, and the
satphone will work in the boonies that cells wont, and you can legally
make phonecalls in the air with it, too.

Hey Dan, I think I told you this earlier, but I had originally planned on
going to BFM with a night or two in New Orleans. Instead we did
lunch in Monroeville (talk about close to nowhere) and made
a quick overnighter in Shreveport. Someday I want to check out
Dauphin Island, I bet you've been there. Did you get another airplane?

Chris

"SeeAndAvoid" wrote:


Thing is, someday I'll get an IFR GPS, not so sure I'd ditch this
setup I
have now though.

Oh, heck no!

It does things that panel mounts 10x its price cant/wont.
And it's one hell of a backup in case of total electrical failure, and
the
satphone will work in the boonies that cells wont, and you can legally
make phonecalls in the air with it, too.

Yep. Certified GPS boxes are for flying approaches. For a lot less you
can keep up with the coolest technology using portable gear.

Someday I want to check out
Dauphin Island, I bet you've been there.

Yep. Nice little airstrip there that sticks right out into Mississippi
Sound. Like doing carrier landings if you use rwy 12.

Did you get another airplane?

Working on it. I've got Bonanza fever again, and this time I think it's
for real.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

Working on it. I've got Bonanza fever again, and this time I think
it's
for real.
************************************************** ****************************

Bring your wallet!

Cheers ... Denny

On 14 Apr 2005 04:34:43 -0700, "Denny" wrote:



Working on it. I've got Bonanza fever again, and this time I think
it's
for real.

A36, B36TC, or maybe a nice F33-C?
IO550 conversion, 1/2 inch windshield .. If you go new, the 36s are
now available with the glass panel. Of course for about a quarter
million less you can have an SR22 that is faster at the lower
altitudes. (and you don't have to remember to put the gear down) OTOH
I think the operating cost of the 36 is actually a bit cheaper than
the SR-22.

Remember 84 and after 36s have the gear and flap switches like every
one else and dual yokes through the panel instead of that big cross
bar. F-33s did not change.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

************************************************* *****************************

Bring your wallet!

Cheers ... Denny

"Denny" wrote:
Working on it. I've got Bonanza fever again, and this time I think
it's
for real.
************************************************** ****************************

Bring your wallet!

Hmmm, let's see: retirement...Bonanza...Bonanza...retirement.
Decisions,decisions.

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 22:28:23 -0400, Jonathan Goodish
wrote:

In article ,
"Dan Luke" wrote:

"Jonathan Goodish" wrote:
I'm unclear on what WxWorx can provide other than the weather,
and how the GPS mapping functionality compares to AnywhereMap.

If you get the WxWorx premium map package and plug a USB gps into the
tablet pc, you get a very useful moving map with METARs, TAFs, cloud
tops, winds aloft, lightning strikes and NEXRAD. Fabulous.


Weather is the primary reason that we're considering this at all.
However, how does the WxWorx + map package compare to Control Vision's
AnywhereWX + AnywhereMap products? The latter seem to be focused
primarily on the PDA segment, although they do have a XP product that
presumably works on a TabletPC.

I've been told they will shortly have a TabletPC version with Weather,
map, and approach charts. Bluetooth/WiFi to cut down cockpit clutter.
Just shy of $4 grand.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com


And, is their an approach plates option with the WxWorx system? If
we're going to do this, being able to ditch the paper subscriptions
would help with the justification.



Thanks,
JKG